SymptomChecker

What causes toe numbness? 27 possible conditions

What Is Toe Numbness?

Toe
numbness is a symptom that occurs when the sensation in your toes is affected.
The effects may be the absence of sensation or tingling and/or burning
sensations. This effect can make walking difficult or even painful

Toe
numbness can be a temporary symptom, or it can be a chronic symptom for some
people. Chronic toe numbness is a concern because it affects your walking
abilities and can lead to injuries and wounds you may be unaware of. While toe
numbness can be a cause of concern, it’s rarely considered a medical emergency.

What Are the Signs of Toe Numbness?

Toe numbness is an abnormal sensation in the toes
that often reduces your ability to feel the ground underneath you or your toes
themselves. You may also feel tingling sensations up your legs or in your toes
as sensation returns and the numbness goes away. Numbness can also cause a
pins-and-needles feeling in your toes. This can occur in only one foot or in
both feet depending upon its cause.

What Causes Toe Numbness?

Your body contains a complex network of sensory nerves
that provide your sense of touch. When the nerves are pressed, damaged, or
irritated, it’s as if a telephone line has been cut and the messages can’t get
through. The result is numbness, whether temporary or long-lasting.

A number of medical conditions can cause toe
numbness. These include:

alcoholism or chronic
alcohol abuse

Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

diabetes and diabetic
neuropathy

frostbite

Guillain-Barré syndrome

herniated disk

multiple sclerosis

peripheral arterial disease

peripheral vascular disease

Raynaud’s disease

sciatica

shingles

spinal cord injury

vasculitis or inflammation
of the blood vessels

Some people experience exercise-associated toe numbness,
especially after engaging in high-impact exercises, such as running or playing
a sport. This is because the nerves are frequently compressed while exercising.
The numbness should subside fairly quickly after you stop exercising.

Less commonly, numbness in toes can be a sign of a
more serious neurological event. This is the case when you experience sudden
numbness on one side of the body. This can be caused by:

seizure

stroke

transient ischemic attack
(also known as TIAs)

When Should I Get Medical Help?

Seek immediate medical attention if you experience toe
numbness along with any of these symptoms:

difficulty seeing out of one
or both eyes

facial drooping

inability to think or speak
clearly

loss of balance

muscle weakness

toe numbness that occurs
after recent head trauma

sudden loss of sensation or
numbness on one side of your body

sudden, severe headache

tremors, jerking, or
twitching movements

For toe numbness not associated with other symptoms, see your doctor
when it becomes uncomfortable or doesn’t go away as it once did. You should
also seek medical help if toe numbness starts to worsen.

How Is Toe Numbness Diagnosed?

Your doctor will first take an inventory of your
medical history and symptoms before conducting a physical examination. If you’re
experiencing stroke- or seizure-like symptoms, the doctor may recommend a CT or
MRI scan. These can detect bleeding in the brain that could indicate a stroke.

MRI and CT scans are also used to detect
abnormalities in the spine that could indicate sciatica or spinal stenosis.

Your doctor will perform a comprehensive foot exam
if your symptoms seem to be concentrated on the feet themselves. This includes
testing your abilities to sense temperature and other sensations in the feet.

Other tests include nerve conduction studies, which
can detect how well electric current is transmitted through the nerves.
Electromyography is another test that determines how muscles respond to electrical
stimulation.

How Is Toe Numbness Treated?

Treatments for toe numbness depend upon its
underlying cause. Your doctor will recommend medications and treatments to
ensure your blood sugar stays at appropriate levels if diabetic neuropathy is
the cause. Increasing your physical activity and paying careful attention to
your diet can also help.

In addition to these steps, a doctor may prescribe
pain-relieving medications. These can include:

antidepressants and anticonvulsants to treat
diabetic nerve pain, including duloxetine and pregabalin

Spinal stenosis is a condition in which the spinal column narrows, gradually compressing the spinal cord. If the narrowing is minimal, symptoms won't occur. Too much narrowing can compress the nerves and cause problems.

This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.

A stroke (a "brain attack") is a medical emergency in which part of the brain is deprived of oxygen. This occurs when an artery that supplies oxygenated blood to the brain becomes damaged and brain cells begin to die.

This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.

An intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) occurs when blood suddenly bursts into brain tissue, causing damage to the brain, which may present symptoms similar to that of a stroke. Lobar intracerebral hemorrhages occur in th...

The vertebrae in your spine are cushioned by disks composed of a hard outer ring with a gelatinous material inside. Injury or weakness can cause the inner portion of the disk to break through the outer portion.

Beriberi is caused by a vitamin B-1 (thiamine) deficiency. It's rare in areas that have access to nutritious food sources, but some diseases (ex. liver disease) and conditions (ex. prolonged diarrhea) can lead to it.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. MS can cause varying symptoms that appear with a wide range of severity, from mild discomfort to complete disability.

Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication of types 1 and 2 diabetes due to uncontrolled high blood sugar levels that result in damage to the nerves. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), between 6...

Hypoparathyroidism occurs when the parathyroid glands in the neck don't produce enough hormone (PTH). Too little PTH causes low calcium and high phosphorus levels in the body. Many of its symptoms concern low calciu...

This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.

Vertebrobasilar circulatory disorders are a group of diseases in which not enough blood is supplied to the back of the brain. Symptoms depend on the cause, but may include vision and sleep problems, dizziness, and more.

Osteomalacia is a weakening of the bones due to problems with bone formation or the bone building process. It is not the same as osteoporosis, which is a weakening of living bone that has already been formed and i...

Peripheral vascular disease is a circulation disorder caused by plaque build-up in peripheral arteries. It typically affects the arteries that supply blood to the arms, legs, and organs located below the stomach.

This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.

Necrotizing vasculitis is the inflammation of blood vessel walls. It can interrupt blood flow, causing skin, muscle, and blood vessel damage, and death of tissues and organs. Its symptoms can affect the entire body.

This condition is considered a medical emergency. Urgent care may be required.

Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare but serious autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks healthy nerve cells of the peripheral nervous system. This leads to weakness, numbness, and tingling, and ca...

Whiplash occurs when a person's neck is forced backward and then forward very suddenly. Whiplash results when the soft tissues–the muscles and ligaments–of your neck are extended beyond their typical range of motion.

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